Download - APA Style fall 2012
© Jody Bailey, 2012
APA: The Inside ScoopJody Bailey
Reference/Instruction Librarian
University of Texas at Arlington Library
© Jody Bailey, 2012
My Experience
10 years as a professional copyeditor for APA, both in-house and as a freelancer.
5 years of teaching writing at LSU and VA Tech.
3 years as a reference/instruction librarian here at UTA.
APA Publication Manual, 6th edition
Be sure you are buying a copy that says “Second printing August 2009” or “Third printing: October 2009”. Do NOT buy a copy that says “First printing”!
© Jody Bailey, 2012
© Jody Bailey, 2012
Writing Style: The Basics
Having trouble with expressing ideas? Read APA’s Publication Manual, 6th ed. (PM), pp. 65-70. Main topics: continuity in presentation of ideas, smoothness of expression, tone, economy of expression, and precision and clarity.
See also grammar and usage (active/passive verbs, s/v agreement, pronouns, misplaced or dangling modifiers, relative pronouns, and parallelism; PM, pp. 77-86).
© Jody Bailey, 2012
Can You Spot the Problem?(Examples from the PM)
The phenomena occurs every 100 years. Name the participant whom you found
achieved scores above the median. The participant who I identified as the
youngest dropped out. The investigator tested the participants
using this procedure. After separating the participants into
groups, Group A was tested.
© Jody Bailey, 2012
Writing Style: Reducing Bias
Very important! Avoid bias on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, racial/ethnic identity, disability, and age. Avoid “the” + adjective (e.g., “the elderly”; PM, pp. 71-77).
Main point: Always call people what they wish to be called (e.g., Hispanic or Latino?), and always put the person before the disability or disorder (e.g., “people with disabilities” not “the disabled” and especially not “the wheelchair-bound”!).
Mechanics of Style
Review all punctuation usage (PM, pp. 87-96). Important! APA uses the serial comma.
Spelling: House dictionary is Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate (2005). See Table 4.2 (PM, p. 99) for nonhyphenated prefixes/suffixes.
Review capitalization (PM, pp. 101-104), italics (PM, pp. 104-106), and abbreviation rules (PM, pp. 106-111).
© Jody Bailey, 2012
Mechanics: Numbers
Use numerals: all numbers 10+, numbers that precede units of measurement, statistical/math functions, time, dates, ages, scores, points on a scale, money (PM, pp. 111-112).
Use words: numbers at start of sentence, common fractions, universally accepted usage (PM, 112).
Ordinals: use same rules as cardinals. Use metric system for measurements (PM, pp. 114-115). Statistical and mathematical copy (PM, pp. 116-124).
© Jody Bailey, 2012
Heading Styles (PM, p. 62)
© Jody Bailey, 2012
Style Mechanics
“Spacing twice after punctuation marks at the end of a sentence aids readers of draft manuscripts [emphasis added]” (PM, p. 88).
Dropped: the rule to use numerals for numbers below 10 grouped or compared with numbers above 10.
New: OK to use “words for approximations of days, months, and years” (PM, p. 112)
© Jody Bailey, 2012
© Jody Bailey, 2012
In-Text Citations The PM’s section on in-text citations is extremely helpful
(pp. 174-179). See also Table 6.1 (PM, p. 177). Examples:
Walker and Bailey (2000) compared reaction times.In a recent study of reaction times (Walker & Bailey, 2000) . . . .
Two authors? Cite both names every time. Three to five authors? Cite all names the first time, then cite only
the first author followed by “et al.” on subsequent citations. Six or more authors? Cite only the first author followed by “et al.”
on all citations. Always include the year in parenthetical citations. Provide page number if info comes from specific place in
your text or if you are quoting.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
“Provides a means of persistent identification for managing information on digital networks” (PM, p. 188)
“A DOI is a unique alphanumeric string . . . to identify content and provide a persistent link to its location on the Internet” (PM, p. 189)
DOI is analogous to ISBN.
© Jody Bailey, 2012
How is the DOI used?
Go to http://crossref.org/Put the DOI in the search boxRetrieve full citation, abstract, and link
to purchase articleTry it! 10.1037/a0015860
© Jody Bailey, 2012
© Jody Bailey, 2012
Reference List
If a source has a DOI, always use it, no matter what type of source it is! Periodical (print OR online):
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (2007). Title of article. Title of Periodical, xx, xxx-xxx. doi: xx-xxxxxxxxx
Online periodical with no DOI:Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (2000). Title of article. Title of Periodical, xx, xxx-xxx. Retrieved from http://www.xxxxxxxx
URL of open-access article or periodical’s home page
© Jody Bailey, 2012
Reference List (cont’d.)
Book: Author, A. A. (1994). Title of work. Location: Publisher. Author, A. A. (1998). Title of work. Retrieved from
http://www.xxxxxxxx Author, A. A. (2008). Title of work. doi: xxxxxxxx Editor, A. A. (Ed.). (1994). Title of work. Location:
Publisher. Book chapter:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (1994). Title of chapter. In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. xxx-xxx). Location: Publisher.
Group Work!
Pair up!Formulate a correct APA
reference for each of the following sources
© Jody Bailey, 2012
© Jody Bailey, 2012
Johnson, A. M., Jent, S., & Reynolds, L. (2007). Library instruction and information literacy 2006. Reference Services Review, 35, 584-640. doi: 10.1108/00907320710838408
© Jody Bailey, 2012
Mirza, R., & Seale, M. (2011). Watchers, punks and dashing heroes: Representations of male librarians in Generation X mass culture. In M. K. Wallace, R. Tolley-Stokes, & E. S. Estep (Eds.), The Generation X librarian: Essays on leadership, technology, pop culture, social responsibility and professional identity (pp. 135-146). Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
© Jody Bailey, 2012
http://dspace.uta.edu/handle/10106/5651
Aaron, T. L. (2011). Closing the gap in higher education: African American male college students perceptions of advising at a two year college (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://dspace.uta.edu/handle/10106/5651
© Jody Bailey, 2012
Useful Resources From APA:
The PM—well, d’uh! APA’s 2012 Style Guide to Electronic References:
http://discover.uta.edu/?itemid=|uta-cat|1963538 APA Style home page: http://apastyle.apa.org/ APA Style Blog: http://blog.apastyle.org/ APA Style FAQ: http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/index.aspx Learning APA Style: http://www.apastyle.org/learn/index.aspx
From UTA: Our “Ask A Librarian” entry on APA style:
http://ask.uta.edu/a.php?qid=64563 UTA’s 2-page brochure on APA style:
http://www.uta.edu/library/help/files/cite-apa.pdf Other:
The OWL at Purdue: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Northern Michigan University’s APA Guide: http://library.nmu.edu/guides/userguides/style_apa.htm
